Fellow market watchers may not include the iPad in Apple's computer sales figures, but Canalys does, and it reckons doing so puts the Mac maker into world's top five.
Looking back at Q2, the three million or more tablets Apple shipped during the quarter amounted to six per cent of the portable computer segment, Canalys said. …

COMMENTS

I'm really not sure I'd call it a PC

I'm really disappointed with data input on my iPad. I was hoping the big keyboard would be nice, but actually in some ways it's too big to be easily 2-thumbed (text style) and too small to touch type - hard without haptic feedback anyway.

Before I bought it I'd have expected to use it to send emails, now I think anything over 2 paragraphs starts to get very painful. The same with commenting on El Reg. Maybe I'm being unfair because I touch-type, so resorting to two-fingers seems terribly slow. I'd say that handwriting recognition on my old tablet PC was just slightly better, as I could get to 3-4 paragraphs before frustration set in.

This stopped me buying Apple's Numbers and Pages apps, that I was expecting I'd get straight away. They also had some very mixed reviews on the App Store - I wonder if they've been allowed to stay up...

That, and the Apple lock-in / use-restrictions / difficulty of controlling data/files, makes me reluctant to call it a general purpose computer. Or if it is, only in the way that smartphones and PDAs are, so you could include Nokia as one of the world's biggest PC manufacturers too.

Not that I don't love it. My iPad gets at least an hour's use a day, often a lot more, with looking things up, reading The Register (sometimes while enthroned - for shame!), BBC iPlayer and reading email.

I'd personally define it as a big PDA, rather than a small computer. Unless maybe you use something like this: http://clamcase.com/

An iPad is to 'computer' what football is to 'sportsmanship'

It's not a computer. It's a lovely, shiny toy - nothing more. It's a way of showing off and amusing oneself, not for achieving anything productive. It's crippled (or defective, depending on your perspective). What it does it does very well but what it doesn't do is just as important, and it doesn't do a significant number of things.

I was despairing of the human race and its clear stupidity in buying these restrictive devices, until I had an epiphany: they aren't computers and shouldn't be compared to them. Maybe that means Stevie J has invented a new paradigm - fine, good for him - but including it in a survey of portable computers is just attention-seeking.

If you include the iPad, you need to include the iPhone. And that would just be silly.

Erm, no..

When is a PC not a PC

>>>If you define a computer as any device not needing another computer to program, that means most of the early crays are not computers.

_________

Well the article starts off talking about portable computers, and then goes on to talk about personal computers: The personal computer vendor worldwide league table was where El Reg was placing Apple - LDV Vans southern confererence... ;o)

I don't think the early Crays, or in fact any Crays, are PCs (Personal Computers) - and the early Crays were definitely not portable, as they had seats! Although I suppose I could sit on my iPad if I felt so inclined, in fact it'll probably make a superb toboggan come next winter!

Please ignore it...

It's sent computing back years, only this time instead of file formats being locked-up and proprietary (although you need to spend time at the start setting things up to get files out of it), it's the applications which are locked-up and proprietary.

iPad

I think in terms of use, the iPad is a fun little device, most certainly lacking in business capabilities - just try to load a reasonably sized spreadsheet into iWorks Numbers. However a reasonable fast replacement is Documents2Go.

It brings a freshness to using a computer and shows its 'consumer' oriented leanings a bit too much. However for NetBook duties, its pretty faultless save for certain unfortunate web technologies being missing - Flash is 99% Adverts and I generally hate it, but when you really feel it lacks is in support for embedded videos beyond that of Flash or Vimeo. The BBC news website for starters, and the half hearted iPlayer support - just go looking for the movie shown on saturday night - 'The Incredibles' on the iPad - its not there, but is on the full fat version (A BBC responsibility of course).

Aside from that, its a pretty decent, functional enterprise email and PIM device, although these are just as good on the iPhone with a smaller layout.

iOS4 on the iPad should help the situation a lot too.

.

I'm intrigued about what sort of computing jobs or activities people would attribute to a netbook that they are objectionable to doing (or just can't do) on an iPad, as I think the iPad and AppStore cover all the bases pretty well. One admitted annoyance though is finding the gems in the AppStore as its a pain in the arse trawling thru the store, finding japanese and other foreign language apps all the time. Should only show English language apps by default. iOS4 must have a better AppStore app.

@ColonelClaw

>>> Personally I would say that it's so obviously a computer that only the most blinkered Apple-hater could disagree. Guess that means this comment will be getting about 50 thumbs downs any second now...

_________

So far, only the one downvote, though I'm sure there's time for that to change. ;o)

However if it's so obviously a computer, then so is the iPhone, and therefore all the other smartphones are too. And of course, in a way, they are.

So it comes down to what you define as the PC market. Which means that it's not obvious at all...

There are certainly some rabid 'haters' out there, not me - I love my iPad, but there is clearly a massive difference between an iPhone and a PC. Or even a Nokia N900 running close to full Linux. They're different products, of differing form-factors and abilities, servicing different markets. Which means it really isn't obvious or clear, and so your post is likely to get more downvotes because people suspect that you're the one taking a dogmatic position rather than because they're all 'haters' - though some of them might be.

Must be a size thing

An Ipod touch is clearly not classified as a computer dispite having everything that that the Ipad does in terms of basic architecture. However, you don't see me going into Apple and asking for a PC and getting an IPod touch now do you? So if the only major factor placing the Ipad in the PC category is that it's of a certain size, then my Nokia N900 clearly isn't a computer.

Of course the iPad is a personal computer ...

In fact it is more personal than most due to its tactile, light and engaging form factor. However it is obviously not in the same league as dual or quad core 15+ inch laptops and my arms are quite thankful at that !!

It does however beat a netbook (or laptop) on many of the mobile functions that "normal human beings" would use a netbook for .. i.e. email, farcebook, twonter, gootube, non-flash (but quite flashy) games, skype (will be excellent under iOS 4 when that comes out as it now works correctly as a background app).

I would say that for most of the general public that currently buy computers, unless they need full video/photoshop editing of their digital camera output, then 95% of what they would do could be dealt with by an iPad ... currently the ONLY downside is that to perform iOS upgrades or upload your own ripped CDs you need a computer to connect to! When the new Apple data centre comes online then I can see an "iTunes in the cloud" overcoming those issues.

Of course 95% of Reg readers don't need an iPad and aren't the target audience .. so the fact you can also do all this with X, Y or Z .. is moot.

Interesting...

I was comparing my HP TM2 tablet PC with a mate's iPad and we noted the following...

For retro gaming, the TM2 supports MAME64 and USB plugin game pads. You have access to thousands of arcade games, all of which are free. The iPad only has a C64 emulator with a few games you have to pay for, and you can't plug in a gamepad.

For photo viewing, with the TM2 you can pop the memory card out of your camera, plug it into the TM2 and view your photos, even while you're still on holiday. Great for reviewing your snaps back at the hotel, and moving them off the camera so it's got more space for the next day. The iPad cannot do this due to the lack of memory card slot.

Viewing movies...I can load the day's TV recordings from my PS3 onto a USB memory stick, plug that into my laptop and copy the films onto it for viewing on the train in M2TS format. The iPad can't do that.

So, at least from my viewpoint, the Tablet PC is better for retro gaming, recorded films and holiday photo viewing. And yet the iPad is supposed to be a great content consumption device?

Oh so very, very wrong.

"For retro gaming, the TM2 supports MAME64 and USB plugin game pads. You have access to thousands of arcade games, all of which are free. The iPad only has a C64 emulator with a few games you have to pay for, and you can't plug in a gamepad."

"Viewing movies...I can load the day's TV recordings from my PS3 onto a USB memory stick, plug that into my laptop and copy the films onto it for viewing on the train in M2TS format. The iPad can't do that."

Really?

You claim that the TM2 is better for gaming. The iPad has 200 free, modern games designed just for it in HD mode. Not to mention the thousands that are iPhone games that can be played as well. You don't have to spend $20-30 for a controller, because the iPad is the controller, with an accelerometer.

The iPad can easily import photos using the camera connection kit. It costs $29, about the same amount as your game controller you need to purchase for your computer. Oh, and with the iPad, you won't need to go back to your hotel on a 4 hour outdoor shoot because the battery is still good for another 6 hours.

Movies, Really? The iPad can download movies and TV shows from iTunes and Netflix. Even with 3g service. Oh and when you turn the screen on the iPad to watch a movie, it rotates automatically, does your HP do that? Or do you have to push a button to do that.

Now, the iPad has a 1gz processor and starts at $500. The HP? 1.2Gz and starts at $829. You have instant access to your information on the ipad, no need to wait for the operating system to load and then another 5 -15 seconds for the "touch interface" to load on the HP, as mentioned in the engadget review.

Yes, the iPad is a great, great consumption device. Just ask the 3.2 million folks that already own one.

Err....

Check the specs

First of all the iPad's touchscreen display is a 25 cm (9.7 in) liquid crystal display (1024 × 768 pixels) at 132 pixels per inch (ppi) with fingerprint-resistant and scratch-resistant glass, not a 4" x 3" screen. According to Apple there are thousands of apps made specifically for the iPad...many of which are free.

Or...not

Right, let's go through this one at a time.

Firstly: Your iCade. It costs $150 and isn't portable. I need this to work on the train to/from work.

Secondly: Your camera connection kit. It costs $29 and only supports SD, SDHD, SDMini and SDMicro cards. No support for MSPro, XD or MMC. My camera is XD. Also, the only other way is to carry both the adaptor AND your camera's USB lead around with you.

Thirdly: Your Macworld article states clearly videos must be in H.264 format - PlayTV films are in M2TS format.

Well...

I'm sure there are more than 200 games that will run on a TM2, it is Windows 7 after all. Also you don't HAVE to have a controller as the TM2 has a touch screen, a digitizer pen AND a Keyboard. Oh and a trackpad. Oh and the ability to connect any number of gaming pads etc. Incidentally I get 9 hours out of my TM2's battery. Regarding movies, I did state that my usage case involved movies recorded (FOR FREE!!) from Frieeview onto my PS3. I don't want to pay rental fees to Netflix, ta. Oh and you don't turn the screen to watch (widescreen) movies on the TM2's (widescreen) display because they're in landscape. The only thing I use portrait for is reading the hundreds of free epub books I have on the machine. Yes I press a button to rotate the screen but the ipad has a button to STOP rotation, does it not?) The HP is actually 1.3GHz x 2 (yes its dual core). Also boot up from suspend (yes I always keep it in suspend) is 2 seconds and the touchscreen works straight away.

Is the iPad a computer?

I think it is..

OK, it may not be the ideal computer for someone who hates Apple or likes the freedom to install what they want without jailbreaking the device.

But, for the average person who just needs it for simple spreadsheet work, email, web access and possibly accessing their company exchange server, it's fine. It's often a lot more convenient than a laptop or desktop at home.

It may also find a niche in commercial computing systems (such as EPOS), but I suspect Microsoft is in the position IBM was a few years ago there (the old saying goes "No One Ever Got Fired For Buying IBM").

Well, maybe....

Trouble is, where do you draw the line? The iPad quite clearly sits somewhere between a Personal Computer and a TV in the gadget continuum, I personally would say that it's about half-way along that line, so you could make as much of a case for it being a TV as you could for it being a PC.

Which isn't something I say as a criticism, before you all reach for the down-voting button....

1) Paired with an external keyboard, it only sends character codes - so no control codes. No escape, no ctrl no alt. Makes it a pretty shitty terminal, particularly in vim. Apple, please fix :/

2) Books on ibooks are ridiculously pricey. The main benefits of physical books over e-books should be the obvious - no need for batteries, you can drop them without damaging them, and you can whip them out on the tube after 10pm without getting mugged - rather than the ridiculous - physical books tend to cost half as much.

"Breath" - Tim Winton - £7.99 on itunes, £4.77 on amazon.

H2G2 trilogy - £7.99 a book on itunes, all 5 for £12.27 on amazon, or £4.20 - £4-80 individually.

You might argue it's not worth £500 quid, in which case, don't get one. I don't think you can argue it isn't a computer without looking like a idiot.

Ahhhh

Why is it that Luddites like you never get the facts (or spelling) correct? First of all the correct spelling IS 'iPod', 'iPad', and 'iPhone'. [Don't believe me? Ask poet e.e. cummings or writer bell hooks]

Secondly, while the iPod Touch and the iPad share some commonality their form and functions are very different. Sort of like the difference between a Vespa scooter and a Porché...they both have wheels, and engines, and run on gasoline (petrol to you Brits), but aside from that they're very different. So it is with the iPod Touch and the iPad.

the only thing that has slightly surprised me about the iPad is...

That the staff in the Apple stores aren't using them (or iphones for that matter)

If you are doing any 'large item' shopping, (i,e not headphones, or an iphone case..) then all the grunt work is done by one of the 'display' Macs that they have lining the store, and the payments are process by their little swipe card things.

If my company (which i dont have) had just released a technological generation defining Thing! i would be making damn sure that everybody knew how awesome it is, and if that means getting all my shop staff to do their stock checks and order processing on it, so be it.

Who cares if it's a computer...

Certainly not the 3 million who've already purchased an iPad. Nor, I suspect, the 1 million a month who continue to purchase iPads.

While techogeeks and the Reg's abundant supply of 'we-hate-anything-apple fanboys' will muse and bemoan the fact that everyone who buys an iPad is an idiot, the fact of the matter is, is that the iPad is well on its way to becoming the gold standard that other less tablet computers aspire to become.

At some point, the 'my-specs-are-better-than-your specs' crowd will realize that people who purchase Apple products don't base their purchase based solely on specifications or on price (for that matter). Many Apple customers base their buying decision on the basis of benefits (perceived or otherwise). Does the iPad give me more benefits than another product? If the answer is 'yes', they buy an iPad. If the answer is 'no', they don't.

He has learned the hard way

Seems about right

On functionality it should be counted if the original 7" EeePC netbooks were counted. Really neither are going to be running things like Quake, SSPS or Autocad. On price, it certainly runs with much of the PC pack. So why not count it?